Myer Wonderland experience drove foot traffic and boosted sales, says GM Tim Clarke
Myer’s Wonderland experience saw an increase of traffic into the whole Sydney flagship Pitt Street store of 11% in the November-December 2016 period, year-on-year, according to Myer executive general manager of property, store and development services, Tim Clark.
Speaking at today’s Retail Marketing Summit on the experiential play, Clark, alongside IdeaWorks managing director Danny Lattouf, explained how Myer reinvented the sixth floor of the Pitt Street store to turn it into Wonderland, an experience for both children and adult shoppers.
“We launched this about November 4 or 5. During November and December we had an increase in foot traffic of about 11%, but on level six it was up 52%,” said Clark.
“In both toys and children’s wear we reduced our floor space to put the holistic business together. And so to grow the business by 8% with a 20% reduction in footprint in toys is a solid result.”
Lattouf explained the brief was clear and “the opportunity was to create a children-centric destination”; however, the team had to keep in mind they were not creating an amusement park.
“It had to be commercially sound and something that was creative but not for creative’s sake but that truly drove an experience,” he said.
Lattouf said the Wonderland needed to be “a land” not just adjacent categories and a simple floor plan.
“We had to create this place where kids would have an awesome time but remain really sophisticated so it didn’t feel unnatural for parents and adults to shop; it had to transcend age and gender.”
He explained interactivity and digital platforms were critical elements in the creation of Myer’s Wonderland.
“One of the early ideas we had was, as soon as you land in Wonderland to give people a reason to participate beyond services and platforms,” Lattouf said.
While there has been no direct advertising for Myer’s Wonderland yet, the event has been promoted through what Lattouf called “natural amplification”.
“Whilst there has not been any advertising for Wonderland yet, it’s all been word of mouth and organic social sharing.
“We were really focused on having experiences and creating areas for people to share those experiences. Throughout the store in Wonderland you’ll see these decals on the floor with #Wonderland and a picture of a camera, we want you to take a photo and share it,” said Lattouf.
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Um…. Sorry, but there was direct advertising for Wonderland.
And maybe traffic uplift was a result of Myer’s excellent Christms campaign and the location of Myer’s Giftorium destination (located on the same floor as Wonderland)?
Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story though.
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The ads don’t always make you buy…and from what I saw today the sales have continued well beyond Christmas and the campaign you talk of…I loved Tim’s presentation – a great experience wins every time.
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I was at yesterday’s presentation and I visited level 6 during Christmas. The line to get into the lift was about 40 people deep. The experience was unreal, my kids kept us there for over an hour. We didn’t see an ad for it, all of our friends were talking about it. We “had to” go there. It was well worth it. Great presentation yesterday, great work Myer.
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I agree, there’s nothing more important than customer experience. And nothing Myer needs more than to improve theirs.
But were there ads supporting the destination or weren’t there?
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